Ghost Puberty
by Tsunami Storm
Summary: It has been three years since the Disasteroid passed safely through the Earth thanks to Danny Phantom and his team. But unknown to the ghost-hero, all is not well in the world. Something is happening to the teenaged phantom. Something that will change his life forever. Pairings, DannyxSam, JackxMaddie. Rated K for SOMEBODY'S foul mouth in an upcoming chapter.
1. Acquittal

Ghost Puberty, a Danny Phantom fanfic by Tsunami Storm

Chapter 1: Acquittal

* * *

It had been three years since the Disasteroid had passed safely through the Earth thanks to Danny Phantom and his team. Daniel 'Danny' Fenton and his two best friends, Samantha 'Sam' Manson and Tucker Foley, were now high school seniors, finishing up their last year at Casper High. Or, more accurately, his best friend and his girlfriend, as the two had _finally_ made their relationship officially public last year.

Amity Park had not changed much over the past three years, and that included the more than frequent visits from its most famous, or infamous, 'guests'. Amity Park remained the 'ghost capitol of the world', and likely would continue to hold that title for years to come. The human denizens of the town didn't mind much, as they had their very own hero to rely on. Danny Phantom still took it upon himself to protect the home he loved, and the people he cared about, from spectral invasions. Whether it be dangerous and potentially-deadly encounters with the Fright Knight, or minor annoyances like the Box Ghost, who would pop up on an almost hourly basis.

In fact, Danny and his friends were en route to school when the Halfa just happened to glance at his watch. The Box Ghost would be due any second now. "Three... two... one..." he muttered to himself, and sure enough, an ethereal shout of "Beware!" broke the crisp, morning air.

"Jeez. You could set your watch by this guy." Danny groused as he made a face in the specter's general direction. He didn't even bother changing to his alter ego to remove _this_ ghost, just blasted him with a weak ecto-blast from his human hand and sucked him into the Fenton Thermos. The little blue man hadn't even finished with his introduction before he was absorbed into the machine's innards in a blue vortex of light. "I am the Box Gho-whoa-Whoa-WHOA-ST!"

"Actually Danny, I think you _did_ set your watch by him. Remember?" Tucker joked, looking at his friend and grinning widely.

"Oh yeah. Who needs an alarm clock when you've got _him_ around?" Danny laughed back, tossing the canister into the air and catching it again single-handed. Today was off to a surprisingly good start, and thus the young ghost-hunter was in a sunny mood. It was a beautiful spring morning, and except for the intrusion of the Box Ghost, it had been relatively quiet and peaceful so far.

Of course, this peace couldn't last for long, and Danny instinctively stepped to the side as Johnny 13 blew right between the three friends on his motorcycle, his girlfriend Kitty riding on the back and holding onto his shoulders. "Hey Phantom!" she called back, and Johnny gave an acknowledging salute from his bike.

"Hey guys. Out on another date?" Danny teased with a laugh, and Kitty scowled at him. "Shut up! What's it to you?" but he knew she was only teasing, as she grinned after that.

Danny just continued to smirk and shrugged his shoulders, continuing along the sidewalk as if nothing had happened.

"They seem... friendlier." Tucker observed, confusion portrayed on his facial features.

"Yeah. Those two have turned into kind of 'frienemies'. They leave me and this town alone, I leave them alone. Kinda like that." Danny answered with another shrug. "We're not allies like Clockwork and Frostbite, but we're not bitter enemies anymore either."

"What happened?" Sam asked. "I mean, you and Johnny couldn't stand each other."

Danny shrugged for a third time. "I guess we both grew up. Metaphorically speaking in his case. Ever since the Disasteroid thing, they've been somewhat civil. Can't say I'm complaining." he smiled a little in relief, knowing that he had at least two less enemies that he had to battle on a daily basis.

After walking for a few more blocks in companionable silence, Danny chuckled, "How do you guys think Lancer will react when I'm actually _on time_ for class for once?"

Tucker snickered and Sam smiled. "Probably the same as he always does. Quote the title of a famous piece of literature and act like a total spaz. What do you think?" they both laughed.

"I guess some things will _never_ change." the Halfa laughed back as they entered the school building.

"FENTOAST! You're dead meat when I catch you!" an all-too-familiar voice shouted as they walked through the hallways to their homeroom.

Sigh. "Speaking of never changing, it's old Meathead himself." Danny groaned sarcastically to his friends, who just smiled and rolled their eyes. Dash Baxter was still at Casper High, but no longer as a student. He was working as an assistant football coach in addition to his classes at the local community college, but never failed to pick on his old favorite punching bag. Not that he shoved the ghost-teen into lockers anymore. Much to his annoyance, Danny Fenton had grown too tall to be shoved into the narrow metal cages meant for books and lunchboxes. So instead, he took every opportunity to humiliate the boy in every other possible way. Of course, few of them ever worked, and none of them actually hurt anymore, but the former jock didn't know or need to know that.

"What did you do _this_ time, Danny?" Sam glared reprovingly at her friend, but she was grinning too.

The Halfa gained an absolutely evil grin on his face for a second then whistled innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about." He opened the classroom door for his friends, the image of a perfect gentleman.

Tucker snickered even louder behind his hand. After all, _he_ had been in on last night's prank too. "He just put Dash's _favorite_ teddy bear on top of his old locker and put a picture of him when he was shrunk on the locker door. Nothin' too major."

"I DON'T - DO - PUNY!" Dash howled at that moment, causing the threesome to burst into gales of laughter.

"Come on." Danny huffed when his giggles had subsided. "We don't wanna be late for homeroom again." Then they walked into the classroom just as the part-time coach walked around the corner of the hallway, his face a brilliant shade of reddish purple.

* * *

As expected, Mr. Lancer reacted in surprise when the roll was called, but did not cite a book title as he usually did, much to the disappointment of the trio. Instead he started right into his lecture on the works of Shakespeare, putting the entire class to sleep in record time.

As the bell rang at the end of the day, Mr. Lancer looked up from his stack of papers and called, "Mr. Fenton. I would like a few words with you. Mr. Foley, Ms. Manson, you are free to go."

Sam and Tucker looked at their friend quizzically, wondering what was up, but Danny waved them off. He too was wondering what the teacher's problem was, as nothing had happened during the day to warrant this little talk, but he kept his fears to himself. "I'll meet you guys at my place later." he whispered, closing the classroom door behind him.

Lancer continued to shuffle and align his papers on his desk, seemingly not taking any notice of the teenager standing next to the door. But then he sighed. "Take a seat, Mr. Fenton."

Danny walked over to the nearest desk and chair and sat in it, his apprehension building by the second. There had been no ghost attacks today during class, and thus no barely explained disappearances, so why was Lancer keeping him after class?

"You can relax, Mr. Fenton. I just want to talk. You're not in any sort of trouble." the teacher sighed with a slight smile of reassurance. The smile grew wider when he saw his student visibly relax, slouching down into the chair.

"What's the problem then, Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked, curiosity now replacing his absent fear.

"Well, I think that it's plain for anyone to see that you have not been at 100% lately, Mr. Fenton. With the exception of today, you are consistently late for class, making frequent trips to the bathroom; when you _do_ return from your 'bathroom break' you're always covered in cuts and or bruises; and frankly, you look dead on your feet. I realize that this isn't really any of my business, but is anything bothering you? Anything that you want to talk about?"

Danny's eyebrows disappeared into his hair at this question. He hadn't been expecting this at all. He'd thought it would be another lecture about his less-than-praiseworthy grades. Sure, he'd maintained a solid B average throughout his senior year so far, but that was nothing to write home about. Still, it was a far cry from his grades in freshman year.

Turning his thoughts back to Lancer's question, Danny pondered to himself, _Oh, where do I _begin_? Well, I'm a half-ghost; I haven't been sleeping at _all_ lately with all the ghost attacks; my parents love one half of me and want to tear the other half apart molecule by molecule; my grades aren't the best because I'm ghost-hunting 'til all hours of the night and I don't have time for homework or studying; Oh yeah, and I'm constantly being shot at by hunters in Amity Park _and_ the Ghost Zone. But that's nothing I can tell _him_. He'd probably freak._

Looking down at his feet, Danny answered, "I appreciate your concern, Mr. Lancer, but I don't need to talk. I _have_ been having trouble sleeping lately, but it's nothing a warm glass of milk won't fix. I'm sorry that I keep coming in late. I'll try to be on time more often."

Lancer sighed again, realizing this was a difficult subject to broach to anyone, much less a teenaged high school student. "I know it sometimes seems that life is too painful to handle, but adding _more_ pain will not solve anything. _Talking_ about the problem is often the best way to handle emotional wounds." he hinted, casting a knowing and sympathetic look at the young man.

Realization then dawned on the seventeen-year-old ghost-teen, and he started in his seat. "Mr. Lancer! I- I don't know how you jumped to _that_ conclusion, but I'm not hurting myself on purpose. Almost all of those bruises come from doing my chores around the house. You know how clumsy I can be. I have no idea where the other ones come from. They just show up out of the blue."

"Okay, Mr. Fenton." Lancer sighed, seemingly satisfied with Danny's answer. He was relieved to know that Danny wasn't hurting himself deliberately, but there was still something that seemed to weigh heavily on the boy's shoulders, something that had been there since freshman year.

Danny got up to leave, and the teacher didn't move to stop him. As the teen put his hand to the doorknob, though, he muttered, "If you ever need to talk, Daniel, I'm always here to lend an ear. Metaphorically speaking, of course."

Danny smiled a little at that and answered in a voice barely above a whisper, "Thanks, Mr. Lancer." then disappeared around the corner of the hallway. Lancer smiled as he turned back to his papers, then sighed. "Ah, the joy of every teacher. Grading." he commented facetiously as he uncapped a red pen from his mug of writing tools and set to work.

* * *

"So, what did Lancer want?" Sam asked her boyfriend when he'd walked out of the classroom door.

Danny chuckled to himself. "He actually thought I was turning into an emo because of all the cuts and bruises I get fighting ghosts. My life may be messed up, but I'm not about to start hurting myself _more_."

As they walked out of the school building toward the park, Danny's trademark ghost-sense went off for the umpteenth time. _Ugh_. Danny complained mentally. _Who is it_ now_?_

His expectant frown turned into a smile when he saw which of the denizens of the Ghost Zone had decided to visit. "What's up, Phantom?" Youngblood called from the back of a blue and green dragon, grinning from ear to ear in his shiny new 'knight' costume. The dragon waved at the three friends too, and they answered with friendly waves. Princess Dora was a good friend of theirs, and Youngblood had become almost like a little brother to Danny in the three years since the Disasteroid incident. Or as another little cousin, at the very least.

"Hey, Youngblood. What's your theme this time? The heroic knight saving a damsel in distress?" Danny called back, a slightly teasing smile on his face.

"Nope, but close! I'm a Dragon-Rider! I just got through the _Inheritance Cycle_, and I loved it so much that I asked Princess Dora to help me reenact some scenes!" the child ghost called, his wide smile still on his face.

"Alright, but just try not to cause too much trouble. Contrary to popular belief, most people in the human world don't appreciate their buildings being smashed into tiny pieces." Danny called after the pair as they started to fly away and the humans continued to Fenton Works.

Youngblood gave an acknowledging salute with his blade, then flew off on Dora to fight some imaginary enemies. (Or Ecto-pusses, if Danny was lucky.)

"_He's_ quite a bit friendlier too." Tucker observed, watching the duo as they disappeared into the distance.

"Most of them in the Ghost Zone _are_ now, pretty much." Danny admitted with a shrug. "There are a few who won't give up. Skulker, for instance, and the Fright Knight. Technus is okay half the time, and Ember's just a pain all the time. The rest mostly leave me alone."

"You forgot the Box Ghost." Sam pointed out, eyeing the Fenton Thermos meaningfully.

"Who cares?" Tucker and Danny replied at the same time, and they could just barely hear an ethereal shout of _"Hey!"_ from inside the cylindrical container.

…

When the threesome had reached Fenton Works and once again returned the Box Ghost to the Ghost Zone (for the bajillionth time), Danny sighed to himself, "I wish he would just lay low for a while. Or at least get a little bit stronger so he's actually worth the effort." Another _"Hey!"_ sounded, but like the first, it went unacknowledged as usual.

"_So you have wished it..."_ another ghostly voice began, but Danny cut her off. "What do you _want_, Desireé?" he sighed rhetorically, rolling his eyes at the appearance of the Wishing ghost.

His question apparently caught the spectral genie off-guard, because she paused and stuck her head out of the Ghost Portal. "Huh. No one's ever asked me that before. What _do_ I want?"She floated out of the portal completely and hovered in the air of the Fenton's basement/lab, tapping her chin with her index finger.

"That was a rhetorical question." Danny sighed, and the ghost-genie looked at him. "Oh I know. It's just that I've never really thought about it before."she floated this way and that for a while, but then shrugged and flew right back into the Ghost Zone.

"That was... different." Tucker commented. "Usually she'd at least try to attack you or something."

"Yeah. She's more of one of the 'frienemies' now." Danny answered his friend. "She always gets this really sad look in her eyes whenever she sees Kitty and Johnny together, and it's there when she sees PJ and Siobhan together, but then it turns to an 'Eww' face pretty quickly."

"Who're PJ and Siobhan?" Tucker and Sam asked at the same time.

"Oh, the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady." Danny shrugged, causing the two to recoil in disgust. "Yeah, that's what I thought too. Siobhan is her real name, and I just made one up for Box Ghost because he sounds exactly like PJ from 'Goof Troop'. You know, that kid's show we used to watch on Toon Disney?"

"Oh yeah! He really does!" Tucker exclaimed, just now putting the two together. Then his face turned serious again. "But how come Desireé gets sad when... _Oh_."

"Yeah. I guess what she'd _really_ want is a boyfriend, but I don't think she'll ever admit it." Danny answered, nodding to his friend. "And it's not like she has a very wide selection. I mean, Johnny's spoken for, and the only other real 'good-looking' ghost that I can think of is Plasmius, and that's just an 'Eww'. Skulker: 'Eww', Technus: 'Eww', PJ: already taken _and_ 'Eww'..." _"HEY!"_

"What about that 'Ghostwriter' guy?" Tucker suggested, but Danny shook his head.

"He's too absorbed in his books. Plus he's kinda psychotic. Same with Walker. I kinda forgot about him." the Halfa added as an afterthought. "Everyone else is too young, too old, or locked up forever." he finished, thinking of the Ghost King Pariah Dark.

"Well, I hope she knows _you're_ spoken for as well, Danny." Sam added with a slight threat woven into her voice.

"Oh yeah. That's obvious to _everyone_ in the Ghost Zone. Heh, Frostbite even carved a pictograph of you in the ice cave right next to one of my pictures. _And_ we're holding hands..." Danny grinned, wagging his eyebrows mischievously.

"Oh, stop it." Sam smirked, shoving her boyfriend to the side a little. Danny grinned even wider and gave her a swift peck on the cheek, causing her cheeks to pink prettily for a few seconds. Tucker just rolled his eyes. "Oh brother."

Just at that moment, Jack Fenton came barreling into the lab, followed closely by his wife Madelyn, or 'Maddie' for short. "I could've sworn I heard a ghost in here..." Jack grumbled loudly, and the three friends looked at each other. "Oh yeah, Phantom was just redepositing the Box Ghost back in the portal. Then he flew off again."

"Phantom was in here?" Maddie asked, surprised. The three teens nodded, and she continued in a quieter voice. "That's funny, hardly anyone has seen him lately, but I guess he's still around, doing his thing and causing mayhem. Filthy ectoplasmic punk."

"Mom, I keep telling you that-" Danny began, and Maddie cut him off.

"I know, I know. He's _supposedly_ one of the 'good' guys, and he's trying to keep this town as 'ghost-free' as possible, but I just don't buy it. If he's so 'good', then why'd he kidnap Mayor Sanchez?"

Danny sighed for the umpteenth time. _This_ subject again. Finally fed up with everyone bringing up that particular incident in the past, he asked in an annoyed voice, "Does anyone have an actual video clip of that 'kidnapping'? Because it's high time I proved something once and for all."

Maddie and Jack were confused and taken aback at their son's uncharacteristic tone and behavior all of a sudden, but then Jack slowly nodded and began rifling through one of the many goo-covered cardboard boxes scattered around the lab. Boxes that Danny was supposed to have organized by now. He finally found what he was looking for and handed the cassette to Danny, who took it with a raised eyebrow. The tape was splotched in various places with green ectoplasmic goo, and he wasn't sure if it would still work in their ancient VCR.

"That tape still works, believe it or not. We used it just last week for some research on how to best upgrade our weapons so they'll be more effective." Jack announced proudly as he patted the Fenton Foamer affectionately. Danny just scowled and walked upstairs with the tape, motioning for his parents and his friends to follow.

When the four humans and one Halfa had marched up the stairway and into the living room, Danny slid the VHS into the tape player and turned on their TV. He fast-forwarded the tape to a specific point, then paused it, pointing at the screen.

"First piece of evidence to prove Phantom's innocence in the trial of Phantom vs. Fentons: Look closely at Mayor Sanchez's eyes." Danny directed, pointing back and forth at the man's two ocular organs.

"Sufferin' Spooks! They're red!" Jack yelled a tad too loudly, and Sam and Tucker winced at the volume.

"Yep. Red-eyed humans: a classic case of either sleep deprivation or overshadowing. And since I highly doubt it's the former, Mayor Sanchez was being manipulated by a ghost." Danny explained. "_Other_ than Phantom." he added when his parents both opened their mouths to interrupt. He pressed 'Play' again on the remote, then paused it again at the mayor's phony cry for 'help'.

"Piece of evidence number two: the hand positions." he indicated, pointing to the orientation of the human's hands versus Phantom's gloves.

"Gallopin' Ghouls!" Jack yelled again, though luckily the two other teens were prepared this time. "From this angle it looks like the _Mayor_ is manhandling _Phantom_, not the other way around!"

"That's exactly what it looks like, Dad. And that's exactly what happened." Danny answered, looking to his shocked parents. "Phantom was framed. By a rule-obsessed ghost named Walker, the prison warden of the Ghost Zone."

"Okay, I admit that you have some very strong evidence _there_, but that still doesn't explain why Phantom attacked _us_ after that!" Maddie put in when her husband couldn't think of a convincing rebuttal.

Danny raised an eyebrow and resumed the video, pausing it after Phantom had shot fairly weak ecto-blasts at his parents. He nodded grudgingly, realizing that his parents _did_ have a good point there. He turned back to them and asked, "Do you guys by any chance have a version of this on a computer? The quality isn't very good on this tape, and I might be able to figure out what Phantom was muttering right before he shot at you."

Maddie nodded and took out her laptop, pulling up a window containing the video on her desktop. Danny then took over the keyboard and opened a sound-mixing program next to the window, so he could reduce the other noise in the clip and increase the volume on Phantom's dialogue.

"... may be overshadowed, but ... should harmlessly push ... ghosts out ... 'em." Phantom muttered to himself as he charged up a weak plasma ball in his palm. Danny allowed himself a small smile before pausing the video again and turning to his parents.

"See? Phantom wasn't trying to hurt you with that 'attack'. He thought you might have been overshadowed, and was trying to get the ghosts out of you. And if I remember correctly..." Danny trailed off as he played through some more of the video, "There! He was going to apologize, but you kept shooting at him."

"Oh." was all Maddie could think to say, clearly out of ammunition to use against the ghost-boy. Jack just sat there looking slightly sheepish and guilty.

"Does that clear things up for you?" Danny asked, with just a hint of an accusing tone in his voice, though not nearly enough to be detected by his parents. Sam and Tuck heard it though, and looked at their friend sympathetically. It must be tough to have a life like Danny's, and everything that it entailed.

After a minute or two, Maddie recovered. "Well, I guess we were a bit off about Phantom. And now that you mention that whole 'red eyes means overshadowing or mind control', I seem to recall Phantom having red eyes when he was stealing all of that jewelry and stuff. That 'Freakshow' guy was the real culprit. I was so focused on what Phantom was doing that I forgot about that clown ringleader completely."

"Exactly." Danny answered. "Phantom was set up there, too. He's just been trying his best to keep this town, and the people he loves, safe. Just like you guys do every day." he smiled at his parents, hoping that they would finally see the light about Phantom's true intentions. Maybe, if all went well, his ghost half wouldn't get shot at anymore by his own parents!

"Nice job on that 'case', Danny." Jasmine 'Jazz' Fenton commented as she glided down the stairs from her room. "You'd make a decent lawyer someday if you wanted to." she shot a sly wink and knowing smirk at her little brother, then turned to the kitchen to get a snack that hopefully wasn't contaminated by the samples of ectoplasm in the refrigerator. Danny merely rolled his eyes. Currently, Jazz was on spring break from her classes at Harvard University, and had decided to spend the two-week vacation with her family back in Amity Park. Unfortunately, Jasmine's spring break and Danny's did not coincide on the calendar, so Danny still had school while his sister did not. Yep. Life was unfair.

* * *

Speaking of unfair...

"Butter biscuits!" Vlad Plasmius cursed as he floated through the vast, untamed reaches of space. "Butter biscuits, fudge nutters, and CHEESE WHEELS!" he roared to himself. After all, he was all alone in the cold, dark emptiness of space.

"If only I hadn't been so presumptuous." he groused. "If only I hadn't been so greedy and arrogant, I could be down there on Earth right now, curled up in my custom-made easy chair, sipping a cup of hot cocoa by a roaring fire and stroking my only friend 'Maddie' as she lay curled up and purring on my lap." (The cat, people, not Danny's Mom.) He sighed. "Alas, here I float, stranded quite literally in the middle of nowhere, unable to return to my home because of a fruitless, foolhardy bid for world domination and riches." He hung his head.

"Oh, Maddie, my only love. How I miss you..." Vlad sighed, gazing longingly at the emerald and sapphire orb before him. "I miss my lovely almost-daughter Jasmine, I miss my witty little badger Daniel... Why, I even miss that completely idiotic _oaf_, Jack." Briefly, the vampire-like Halfa questioned his sanity after voicing that particular confession aloud, but then shrugged. No one was around to hear it, and even if he _had_ lost his marbles, who would even care about it? Out here, in space?

"Perhaps Daniel was right in calling me a Froot-Loop all the time." Vlad mused aloud and to himself at the same time. "I really _have_ made a mess of things, countless times, on Earth, haven't I? The crown jewel being that stupid Disasteroid. Oh, _why_ couldn't I just let go of the past, forgive and forget, as they say? Why did I have to hold it against my only two friends, who eventually left me to my bitterness?"

Finally giving into his sorrow, Vlad Plasmius dropped his face into his hands and wailed, "I wish that the world would forget that Vlad Masters became Vlad Plasmius and demanded world domination!" he sniffed pitifully a few times, then added in a much softer voice, "perhaps then I could return home and finally start anew."

...Unknown to the ghostly space nomad, a face poked out of a spontaneous ghost portal a few feet away and whispered, _"So you have wished it, so shall it be!"_

* * *

End of chapter 1

Next chapter teaser: A Shocking Change

I think I should mention to my lovely readers that in this story, everything in Phantom Planet happened _except_ for the 'big reveal'. So, according to everyone but Sam, Tuck, Jazz, and some ghosts, Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom are two different people.

I can't be the _only_ person that noticed that the Box Ghost and PJ have similar voices, and I thought it was funny, so I put it in here. And the author grew up watching 'Goof Troop' on Toon Disney, so sue me. (Not really!)

Call me crazy, but I actually kinda like Desireé. She's spunky, powerful, GORGEOUS, and not completely evil like Pariah Dark, just a little mischievous sometimes. I think she's earned the right to make a small wish of her own, don't you?

On that note, I like Youngblood too. He's kinda like a kid-brother-figure to some of the other ghosts, with a wild imagination. I really liked _Eragon_, so I let him borrow my copy. Wouldn't ya know it, he liked it too! Now he gets to play with his very own Saphira... er, I mean Dora.

Y'know, I kinda feel sorry for Vlad. I mean, being stuck in outer space all alone has _got_ to be lonely and boring. I mean, he _totally_ deserved it, for everything that he did to Danny, Valerie, _and_ Danielle, but I still feel bad for the guy. So, like it or not, I'm gonna give him another chance.

Tsunami Storm


	2. A Shocking Change

Ghost Puberty

Chapter 2: A Shocking Change

* * *

"Y'know Danny, your Mom actually had a point yesterday." Sam commented on their way to school for their last day before Spring Break.

"And that would be... what?" Danny encouraged, looking at his girlfriend.

"We haven't seen much of Danny _Phantom_ lately. You always battle the ghosts in your human form." she explained, looking quizzically at the teen hero. "Why is that?"

"That... is an excellent question, Sam." Danny answered, trying his best to avoid the main answer. His ghost half was going through some _major_ changes. _Scary_ changes, and he didn't want his best friends to desert him.

"Two reasons: One, so I don't get shot at by Miss 'Red Huntress' and my own parents, and Two: Half those guys aren't even worth transforming for. _You_, for instance," he directed at the Box Ghost, who was sneaking up behind him and preparing to shout "Beware!" He shot an ecto-blast out of his finger, stunning the man in overalls, then sucked him into the Fenton Thermos. "You're making my point _for_ me, dude." he laughed.

"Fair enough." Sam chuckled, and Tucker grinned as well.

"Oop. Forgot one. Reason number three: Fangirls." he growled as he spotted Paulina Sanchez up ahead with her 'satellite', Star, who were just walking into Casper High.

"Ooo, yeah. _That _one should be number 1." Tucker winced as he remembered how his friend used to be chased through the halls by squealing hordes. And not all the 'squealing hordes' were made up of all girls.

"Honestly, I don't know what I saw in her freshman year." Danny mused aloud. "You were right, Sam, she's totally shallow and..." he faltered, not able to think of the right word.

"A she-devil?" Sam suggested, smirking sideways at the black-haired boy.

"I was gonna say 'clique-y' or 'A-list-y', but that works too." Danny laughed as they entered the double doors of the institution.

"Hey Fenton." Valerie greeted as she merged with their group and walked to Mr. Lancer's class. It was with a friendly tone, but she wasn't overly excited to see him, either. It was merely a casual greeting.

"Hey, Val." Danny answered politely as Sam growled, "Oh look, our favorite 'Red Huntress'.", but Ms. Gray didn't seem to hear her.

…

Half a day passed without a single ghost in sight, which naturally made a few ghost hunters in the class very suspicious, but Tucker waved it off. "Hey, think of it as a break. Maybe they're goin' for a record and not having _one_ ghost sighting for a whole day!" he suggested optimistically, and that's when Danny's 'Ghost Sense' went off.

"Nice one, Tuck," Danny groused teasingly. "Ya jinxed it." Then he disappeared from the cafeteria and ran off in the general direction of the specter.

He finally found it after about ten minutes, in the park and doing crunches while hanging from the monkey bars by his legs.

"Hey!" The new ghost greeted with an upside-down wave, and Danny, caught off-guard for a moment, waved back. "What's up, Phantom?"

This took Danny by surprise. He was _human_ right now! How did this new guy know?

"Uh..." Danny began, not sure how to phrase his question without sounding totally rude.

The specter seemed to come to a realization then, because he ceased his exercises and floated off the equipment. "Am I bugging you being here? 'Cause I can do this somewhere else," he asked, slightly sheepish.

"Well, you _did_ set off my ghost sense..." Danny answered, but then continued. "That's not what bugged me, though. Who are you, first of all, and how did you know who I am?" he asked.

"Easy, I recognized your aura." the ghost answered. "Every ghost has a specific aura, and Halfas like _you_ are_ really_ interesting. As for me, you can call me 'Storm'." he smiled, offering his hand.

"Well, you're either a good ghost, or you're a _very_ polite bad one." Danny commented, shaking Storm's hand. A spark of electricity jumped between them, and Danny's hair stood up.

"Whoops!" Storm chuckled, "My bad." as Danny attempted to flatten his hair. "Sorry. You okay?"

"Yeah. A little static doesn't hurt me." the Halfa answered, though he was still wary of the specter. His hair was white and spiked, as if static were running through it, and his eyes were storm-gray. He was clad in purple, kinda like Clockwork minus the cape, only his theme seemed to be lightning instead of time. Danny wasn't too good at judging ages, but this ghost appeared to be around seventeen years old. And unlike most ghosts, his skin tone was a nice shade of tan instead of green, white or blue.

"Why are you here?" Danny blurted, before he realized his ton was kinda rude.

"Good question." Storm replied. "The short answer is that it's quiet here in the park. Ember was driving me batty with one of her jam sessions in the Ghost Zone, and I like peace and tranquility when I... eh... train." he elaborated, turning sheepish again at the end of the explanation. "And I used to come here to the park a lot when I was... alive. For the same reason."

Danny raised his eyebrows, and Storm smiled, answering the obligatory question that followed his previous statement.

"I got caught in the crossfire in a fight between Technus and Vortex a few years ago. That's why your hair stood up when we shook hands. I can control electricity... mostly. Not the weather, not technology, just electricity. That's how I died. About two months after that 'Disasteroid' thing."

"I remember that! I broke them up!" Danny growled, anger rising at the memory. "I flew a comatose young man to the hospital. Was that you?"

Storm looked down. " I appreciate your concern for me at the time, but it was too late. I was already gone by the time you arrived."

Danny put a hand to his forehead, disbelief, guilt and sadness in his ice-blue eyes. Storm put a hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, and it's all in the past now. Forget about it and put it behind you. I have."

With that, he smiled, flew up fifteen feet, saluted, then shot off into the noonday sky, leaving green rings of energy behind him.

_He's fast!_ "Hey wait! Come back here!" the Halfa called, not really expecting that to work. So he was quite surprised when a voice behind him asked, "What?"

Danny jumped, then spun around. It was the same teenaged ghost from before. "How... how do you do that?"

"What, the Ecto-Rocket?" Storm asked. "Easy. You just shoot two ecto-blasts from the soles of your feet. You have to be in 'Ghost Mode', though. I doubt it would work with your human half. Plus you'd ruin a perfectly good pair of sneakers." he joked, then shot off into the horizon.

Danny smirked at that, then returned to the cafeteria just as the bell rang. He shrugged. _Eh, I wasn't hungry anyway..._ as he emptied his goulash into the trash bin. Tucker and Sam wanted an immediate update on the ghost, but Danny whispered, After school. My basement." They both nodded, then sat in their seats and waited for Mr. Faluca.

* * *

"Danny-boy!" Jack Fenton waved from the other side of the lab just as the trio entered from the stairs. "you're just in time! C'mere, I wanna show you our new-and-improved 'Fenton Finder'!" he proclaimed, pushing Danny over to a lab table. The surface of the table was littered with spare parts, half-eaten food, and gobs of ectoplasmic goo, but Jack directed his son's attention to a device about the size of a wristwatch, minus the band.

"You can use this lil' beauty to track any ghostly activity within a ten-mile radius!" Jack crowed, extremely pleased with himself. "And it has a 'search' function too! Just press this little green button..." he pressed a button on the side, and a holographic rectangle the size of a computer monitor appeared before him. "And presto! You get a voice-activated lexicon of every ghost we've ever encountered, and a few we... ah, _borrowed _from your laptop." the ghost hunter admitted sheepishly.

"WHAT?!" Danny gasped, aghast. Privately, he thought, _Good thing we didn't put _my_ info in there..._ Tucker and Sam thinking along the same lines.

"We just don't have anything on Phantom..." Maddie mused, tapping her chin. "That-" she caught herself, before she said something rude and insensitive. "-boy is so difficult to read. I wish he wouldn't be so... secretive, hold everything in, then maybe we could get some info on him, but he's too evasive and mysterious." she complained, pouting slightly.

Danny chuckled darkly. "Well, you can't really blame him. You're always talking about ripping ghosts apart 'molecule by molecule'. No wonder he always avoids you when he can help it." he commented wryly, looking askance at his parents.

"Well, maybe we _have_ been a little... overzealous." Maddie conceded, looking abashed. "Scout's honor: Next time I see him, I'll apologize." she promised.

"You were a scout?" Danny asked, and his mom beamed. "Junior Chipette three years running. Your father was a Junior Chipmunk too. Ah, those were the days..." she sighed, lost in the past.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Jack interrupted, still jazzed about his 'improved' old invention. "Getting back to the Fenton Finder, I, Jack Fenton, hereby bequeath this brilliant little baby to you, my boy. Happy Birthday!"

"It's not my birthday." Danny commented with a raised eyebrow, but shrugged and took the device anyway. As soon as his skin came in contact with it, four metal wires shot out of it and wrapped around his wrist, latching together on the opposite side. Danny jumped, and his father chuckled.

"Whoops. Forgot it does that. You can get it off by pressing the black and green buttons simultaneously." he explained, appropriately sheepish.

"Thanks for the advance warning," Danny groused sarcastically, but he wasn't really serious. He pressed the green button, and the search screen popped up.

"Welcome to the Fenton Finder, version 2.0." a cool female voice greeted, the same as last time. "Enter your search keys by speaking slowly and clearly."

"Go ahead, Danny-boy," Jack encouraged. "Why don'cha give it a whirl?"

Danny shrugged, then thought about his choice. "Alright." he decided, adding to himself, _Can't believe I'm doing this..._ "Dan Phantom."

"Searching... Dan Phantom." the voice stated coolly. After a minute, it beeped. "Location complete. Subject currently contained in Fenton Thermos within lair of Clockwork."

Danny sighed with relief. "Good. He's still under control."

"_Dan_ Phantom?" Maddie asked, confused. "Who's _Dan_ Phantom?"

Danny ducked his head in shame and guilt. "Long story. Basically, he's Danny Phantom's evil side merged with Vlad Plasmius from an alternate future." he summarized, wishing to change the subject as soon as possible. "No one wants _him_ breaking out, so I check on him periodically. Just to make sure he's still secure."

"Oh, my little hero!" Maddie gushed, hugging her 'little' hero, who was actually taller than her at this point.

Jack, still confused, blurted, "And who's Clockwork?"

This was a question Danny was happy to answer. "He's the ghost of Time. And he's about as 'good' as you can get. He's one of the few denizens of the Ghost Zone I actually admire."

"You really mean he's a pain in the ass, right?" a chillingly familiar voice growled, sending a shiver down the young Halfa's spine. _Oh no._ he thought, but then he looked at the new Fenton Finder. _But..!_

"Oh, that thing works. Give our parents credit where it's due. I just left one of my 'copies' in that stupid thing to fool you." Dan smirked, smug as a cat with a mouthful of mouse. "A pitifully weak copy that should destabilize right... about... now." he glanced at the lab clock on the wall, and Danny gasped.

"You!" Sam and Tucker gasped in unison, outraged. "We thought Clockwork had you contained for eternity!"

"Obviously not." Dan answered, now sounding bored. "I'm here, and you're here, but soon, you will not be here." he pointed to Danny's family and friends as he said this, but not Danny himself.

"I gotta say, you sure changed a _lot_, runt." Dan shot at Danny, ho scowled at the name. "Tell me, did you hit 'Ghost Puberty' yet?"

The humans all looked at the ghost in confusion, but Danny continued to glare, silent and conserving his energy for the inevitable battle.

"Ghosts go through puberty?" Tucker asked, still nonplussed.

"Oh yeah. It's a hell of a ride." Dan laughed evilly, still smirking at his good side and not even acknowledging the questioner. He suddenly lunged and grabbed Danny by the front of his shirt, hoisting him off his feet and into the air, concentrating as he did so.

"I guess it's 'Bye-bye, secret' now, runt!" Dan laughed, transforming Fenton into Phantom with his power. But the good guys weren't the only ones who were surprised at the reveal.

The ghost now in Dan's grip was nearly a mirror image of his dark side, minus the goatee, flaming hair, red eyes, and green skin. The ponytail was absent, and Danny's famous forelock was still in place, though now it appeared to be slightly longer. Daniel's eyes were still green, and his complexion was suntanned as usual, a shade or two darker than his human form. His suit was the only thing that really changed. It was now a perfect replica of Dan's, cape and all, though somehow less intimidating and more inspiring than before.

"Guess that answers _that_ question." Dan chuckled, still holding onto his good half, who opened his eyes and glared at the enemy, emerald orbs flashing in anger and... was that smugness?

"Big mistake." he smirked, grabbing Dan's arm and spinning him around, throwing him into the corner of a lab table and grimacing slightly when the edge rammed itself into Dan's back. Danny quickly threw a ghost-shield over his family and friends while his opponent was stunned, then another around the whole basement so his dark side couldn't escape.

Dan scoffed, grudgingly acknowledging the younger ghost's power. "So it begins." he mused aloud. "You _do_ realize that one of us will have to _kill_ the other, right? Damn fool Clockwork and his 'Time Paradox' angle."

"If that's the price to keep my loved ones safe, then so be it." Danny retorted, conjuring an absurdly-large ecto-blast and firing it at Dan. The ghoul merely yawned and crushed the sphere with one hand, covering his mouth in an unconscious moment of politeness with the other.

"That all you got?" Dan taunted. "Even _Valerie_ was more of a challenge than _you_, and she's child's play."

"I beat you once when I was fourteen. I can do it again!" Danny shot back, green flames burning in his eyes a millisecond before ecto-rays came shooting out of them.

"HA! That was _luck_, runt. Sheer, dumb luck. And you didn't beat me. You just sucked me into that damned Thermos of yours when I was off-guard. Your 'power' had little to do with it." Dan snarled, his emotions switching so fast that it was like he had a switch in his brain. "Although, I _will_ admit your 'Ghostly Wail' was a surprise." he shrugged. "Looks like you really _are_ turning into me." he laughed sinisterly, once again smirking at the Halfa and playing on his worst fear.

"I may look like you." Danny whispered, face downcast. "I may be developing your abilities. But I will never... become... YOU!" he built up his volume to a climax at 'you', changing the word to a 'Ghostly Wail' at the end and blasting it point-blank at the fiend's face. Suddenly, three more Danny's appeared, and all shouted at the top of their lungs, boxing in Dan and pummeling him with Wails from four directions.

"ARGH!" Dan cried, crouching into himself to try to minimize the target. Not that it helped much. The burly bully stuck out like a sore thumb. Danny continued his Wail until he was almost spent, barely keeping himself in 'Ghost Form'. His four copies merged back into one, then Danny created a plasma-snowball (an ecto-blast within a snowball) between his hands and hurled it at his arch-nemesis, freezing him into a sculpture within seconds.

Danny was breathing hard after using so much energy, but he kept his eyes on his opponent, not daring to look back at the gaping faces of his family and friends. He just couldn't face them right now. As large as his energy loss was, though, Dan was looking pretty bashed up himself. His suit was torn and singed in multiple places, showing mottled, green skin underneath, some leaking ectoplasm where he was wounded. Most of his flaming hair was missing too, and the few patches of white that remained didn't help his looks one bit. His cape was riddled with holes and ragged, and the DP symbol on his chest had been torn off completely.

With a feral snarl, Dan broke out of the ice and glared at his younger self, once again forced to acknowledge the boy's power. "Guess Frostbite taught you a few tricks. Amusing to the last, aren't we, Daniel?"

Danny scowled at the specter. "You'll find I'm full of surprises." he growled, charging up another ecto-blast to fire at the fiend.

Dan smirked smugly, also charging up a plasma ball, but stopping when he noticed something rather troubling.

"What?! Where the hell did my _feet_ go?!" he panicked as he looked down. His feet had indeed disappeared, and a strange puddle of black and green ectoplasmic goo bubbled in their place. And by the looks of it, his shins and knees were next.

"No, this can't be possible!" Dan howled, trying to pull himself back together and failing spectacularly "Why the hell am I destabilizing?"

"Conflicting cores weaken each other," Danny stated matter-of-factly, no trace of emotion in his voice.

"I have an _ice_ core, Vlad Plasmius had a _fire_ core. Since you have _both _within you, they're breaking each other down. Simple as that." he continued tonelessly, not sure how to feel about this situation. On the one hand, Dan Phantom _was_ the Ultimate Enemy, and had proven that he was evil to his core(s) on countless occasions. But on the other hand, he technically _was_ Danny, albeit an evil half from an alternate future that would never exist. The good Phantom didn't know how to feel about destroying himself.

Dan looked incredulously at the teen ghost, but then shrugged. "I've never had to push myself _this_ far before to defeat an opponent..." he commented carelessly as his legs and waist melted into a puddle. "Congrats, runt. By destroying me, you've finally _become_ me. My goal is complete." he snickered. Just before his head dissolved into the goop, he laughed, "So long, _Dan_ Phantom!" and his maniacal laughter echoed throughout the laboratory long after the menace had dissolved into a formless glob of mush.

Danny turned away from his loved once as he lowered both ghost shields, still unable to face them and the inevitable, unbearable questions. He floated down to the floor, his head hung and his back to his allies, and so didn't notice a certain Goth girl walking up behind him until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Danny?" she whispered quietly in concern for her friend. "Are you okay?"

The phantom took a deep breath, not speaking for a full minute. Sam waited patiently behind him, wishing he would turn around, but also knowing that he must be hurting right now.

"I hoped you'd never see me like this..." he breathed in a nearly soundless whisper, but somehow everyone in the room heard it, and the tears that came with it. Phantom was crying. "That's why I've... b-been h-hiding." he choked, shaking a little. "My worst nightmare... it's c-come true." he stammered, hiding his face in his gloved hands.

"No Danny!" Sam shouted, startling the broken hero a little bit and making him jump. "You're not turning into him! You're not _him_ and you never will be!" she continued emphatically. "He was just trying to hurt you, and make you doubt yourself." She wrapped her arms around his waist from the back.

"I just _killed_ someone, Sam." Danny shot back, but all the malice, hate and anger was directed inward at himself. "I _killed_ him! How can you say that I'm not him when I just took a life... sort of, with my own hands?! I'm no better than _he _was!"

"Because of what you're feeling right _now_, Danny." Jazz answered, also walking up and putting a gentle hand on his other shoulder. "Those feelings are what make you _human_. That... _thing_ was not."

Danny stood there for a long moment, silently shaking. He knew that what his sister and girlfriend were saying was right, deep down inside, but that part of him was buried under a mountain of emotions.

"Well, it's like what Mom said once. 'Once a filthy ghost, _always_ a filthy ghost'." he commented darkly, turning intangible and flying away from his sister and the young woman he loved. "I doubt you'll see me again, so this is goodbye." he said sadly as he vanished from sight.

"Danny, wait!" Sam cried, holding up a hand as if to pull him back, but dropped it after a minute. "I love you," she whispered, a tear running down her cheek.

A piece of paper fluttered down from the space where Danny had disappeared, and Jazz snatched it out of the air. She opened it in front of her parents and Danny's friends, so that they too could see the message. Written in Danny's familiar tidy handwriting, but also splotched with tears, were two words:

_I'm sorry_.

* * *

Danny Phantom flew over Amity Park, still invisible, until he could bear it no longer. He stopped in midair, reappeared in the visible spectrum and slowly sank to the ground, conveniently directly above a well-placed park bench. He transformed back to a human, rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands, sobbing as if his heart had burst. He let out all his emotions in those tears, until only anger was left, and he didn't exactly know how to get rid of that one. His ghost-sense went off just before a gentle hand touched his shoulder from behind. That was the third time today.

"What do you want, Johnny?" Danny growled quietly, not really caring about the answer. He just wanted to be left alone.

"It's rare to see _you_ in a funk, dude." the teenager commented, raising an eyebrow. "You wanna talk about it? Man-to-man, so to speak?" he asked, sitting on the bench beside the boy-hero.

"No, not really." was Danny's knee-jerk answer, and his tone was clipped, though not intentionally. Johnny scowled, but then shrugged. Phantom wasn't _trying _to be rude. In fact, he didn't appear to be trying to do _anything_. He was just sitting there, looking beyond miserable.

"No offense, dude, but you look _awful_." Johnny commented, but Danny didn't answer. In fact, it was a whole five minutes before he spoke again.

"Do you know of a place in the Ghost Zone where I can just... destroy things? Somewhere I won't hurt anybody else? I gotta release all this pent-up anger, before I end up doing something _else_ I'll regret." he asked, and Johnny brightened up immediately.

"I think I just might." he grinned, flying over to his motorcycle and kick-starting it. "Let's see if you can keep up with the new upgrades, Phantom!" he taunted good-naturedly, and Danny half-smiled in spite of himself. "Bring it on." as they flew through a random Ghost Portal.

The two boys stopped at a location deep in the center of the Ghost Zone, where a plethora of crumbling buildings, ruins, and random islands of long-dead trees floated in the green expanse of the Zone. Johnny cracked his knuckles loudly. "This spot has been an eyesore for as long as anyone can remember. We've been meaning to demolish it for years, but only _now_ got permission from the Council of Observants. High time we made some room for new lairs in the center instead of always branching out." he commented, smirking.

"So, just to clarify, all this stuff can be blasted to smithereens, right?" Danny asked, and Johnny nodded. "Yep. And it's completely abandoned. None of those doors lead anywhere either. Any and all ghosts that lived here have either moved their lair or destabilized eons ago. So by all means, knock yourself out. Or rather, don't." he laughed, speeding away on his bike.

Danny smirked and shook his head, then created a gigantic ecto-sphere and launched it at the largest ruin, but not before erecting a titanic forcefield over the whole area that was surrounded by yellow 'Caution' tape. "Hello Misplaced Aggression." he smiled as the ruin burst into smithereens.

* * *

BOOM! "Whoa! What was that?" Ember gasped as a tremor rocked her lair. She peeked outside to see thousands of ghouls and spooks flocking to the center of the Ghost Zone, which was apparently the source of all the quakes.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked a random passerby, only to recognize the not-so-random face. "Youngblood?"

"Yep. Ahoy, me old shipmate!" the boy saluted, tipping his captain's hat. "Come check it out! I guess Phantom had a _really_ bad day today, so he turns into a one-man demolition team and is just going ham on those old ruins downtown." He laughed excitedly, then sped off with the other spectral spectators.

"Now _this_ I've _got_ to see!" Ember grinned, flying off with the others.

…

"Whoa. Guess I can't call him 'Baby-Pop' anymore..." the singer/guitarist breathed, and Desireé grinned. "Yeah. I am _liking_ the new look! _Totally_ better than that plain, lame jumpsuit he had before!"

"You _said_ it, girlfriend!" Kitty squealed, and Johnny looked over at her, suddenly jealous. "Hey! I thought you were _my_ girl!"

Kitty laughed. "I _am_, silly. But a girl can still enjoy the view, right?"

Desireé looked to the left then, and suddenly her heart skipped a beat. Not something that happened every day, especially if one was a ghost. "Speaking of 'enjoying the view'..." she breathed, red eyes locked on one ghost in particular. "Who's that?" she asked.

Ember followed her gaze, then smirked. "That's Storm, my 'neighbor' of sorts. His lair's right next to mine. Apparently my jam sessions drive him crazy." she grinned, not ashamed in the slightest. On the contrary, she looked a little smug.

"He's new here, right?" Kitty asked, glancing over at the boy, who was watching Phantom in interest.

"If you count 'new' as within the past three years." Ember shrugged. "Apparently he got caught between Technus and Vortex's 'scuffle', and wound up dead and with the power over electricity. Kinda sad, but who here has a story that _isn't_ tragic?" the artist scowled, remembering her own death day. "He's kinda a loner, but really polite and nice if you talk to him. Heh. Newbie." she scoffed, turning back to the impromptu 'light-show' that Phantom was putting on.

Kitty looked back at Storm, who was now talking to Desireé. She smiled. _Judging by the look on Dezzy's face, it looks like Storm won't be a loner for much longer..._

* * *

"Our _son_ is the Ghost-Boy?!" Maddie gasped, still shell-shocked. Beside her, Jack was hyperventilating. She put a calming hand on his arm. "Settle down now, Jack. It's all right." She frowned unhappily. "This whole business has got me just as confused and baffled as you."

Finally calming down enough to talk, Jack stated, "Imagine, our own _son_ has had ghost powers all this time and has kept them a secret from us." He looked confused. "But we love him!" He turned to Maddie and the others. "I wonder why he didn't trust us enough to tell us."

Jazz sighed and rolled her eyes. "Hmm, let me guess..." she dropped her voice to imitate her father. "Hey, Maddie, let's destroy the ghost!" Then she imitated her mother. "No, Jack, let's dissect the ghost!" She copied her dad again. "I know, let's catch the ghost and rip it apart molecule by molecule!" she finished, returning to her normal, if sarcastic, tone of voice. "You guys are _so_ understanding."

Maddie and Jack looked down at their feet, ashamed. They had no idea they were hurting their son so much.

After a minute, the Fentons turned to the two youngest members of the gathering. "Tucker, Sam, we want you to tell us _everything_. From the beginning." Maddie ordered, and the two friends sighed and exchanged glances.

"Well, here goes. You guys might wanna sit down. This is gonna take a while." Tucker sighed, then the two teens started their story of how Fenton became Phantom.

* * *

End of Chapter 2

Next chapter teaser: 'Hereafter'

Before you ask, yes. Storm is an OC of mine. I didn't say how old he was in the chapter, but he was seventeen when he died. My favorite age. And he had brownish-bronze hair.

Storm's dramatic exit was supposed to look like Tucker Phantom's in the episode, 'What You Want'.

Let's see if any of you geeks/enthusiasts can spot the 'Princess Bride' quote I snuck in here. And I use 'geeks' as a term of endearment. Really!

Sorry for Dan's potty-mouth, but you'd probably use a few choice words too if you were locked in a thermos for about three years.

For that 'Wail Prison', all I can say is 'Ouch!', and I totally made up Vlad's core and the fact that Dan has both.

I love friendship/bonding moments in shows and movies, and I missed that in Danny Phantom. So now _I'm_ writing it! Hint hint, Mr. Hartman!

Council of Observants = Court system and/or government of the Zone. And, just like ours, they take _forever_ to decide on anything.

That's one of my favorite lines in life. *Snerk* 'Knock yourself out, or rather don't.' Sometimes I amuse even myself. (Not a hard thing to do, BTW...)

*Hangs head in shame* Normally I don't like canon character/OC pairings, but I felt that Desireé deserves an awesome boyfriend. Or... _crush_, for now. Time will tell what the future holds for them. *runs off to beg Clockwork for details*

So the Fenton's _finally_ get the _full_ story. It's about time! Boy, Tuck and Sam are gonna have a _lot_ of explainerating to do. *grins*


	3. Hereafter

Ghost Puberty chapter 3: Hereafter

* * *

"Wow." was all Jack Fenton could say after Tucker, Sam, and Jazz finished their tale, and Maddie was just sitting in her seat, stunned into silence.

"My goodness, this is so much to absorb..." she gasped, putting a gloved hand to her temple, feeling a headache coming on.

"Tell me about it." the three young adults agreed in unison, then giggled at their comedic timing.

"There's still a few blank spots, though." Tucker admitted. "I have no idea _when_ Danny changed, how he got some of his newer abilities, or what 'Ghost Puberty' is." He looked to Sam, but she shook her head. She didn't know either.

Suddenly, a boy's head poked out of the Fenton Portal, a disarming smile on his face. "Maybe _I_ can be of some assistance," he offered as he looked at the gathered humans.

"Ghost!" Jack and Maddie hollered at the same time, reaching for the closest ecto-weapons. Storm (for it was he) put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, whoa! I come in peace!" he cried, looking honestly scared. This startled the adults, giving Storm time to explain himself. "I won't hurt you. I wanna help. Believe it or not, there _are_ such things as 'good' ghosts in the Zone."

The Fentons slowly lowered their weapons, warily watching the boy as he floated out of the Portal completely and stood away from the group. He smiled shyly, waiting patiently for the oncoming deluge of questions.

Sam spoke up first. "Where is Danny? Is he safe? Is he alright?"

Storm smiled. "He's fine. Physically, at least. He's been in the Zone for the last few days, sorting out some... um, personal issues." he elaborated. "I didn't ask, but he looked like he was really torn up emotionally. I got the gist of it from Clockwork, though."

Tucker was next. "Who exactly are you?"

Storm smiled kindly again, though this time it was tinged with sadness. "My name is Storm, and I have the ability to control electricity." he stated simply, refusing further explanation than that, even when prodded.

Maddie asked her question next. "How and when did Danny get all these new powers, and the new... look?" she asked, watching the spectral teenager carefully.

"I'm afraid I can only answer _half_ of that question, ma'am." Storm replied, looking sheepish. "_How_, I'm guessing, came from puberty. As for _when_, you'll have to ask _him_, when you see him again." he shrugged, indicating that he didn't know.

"He said _when_, not _if_..! That means Danny will come home!" Sam whispered, hope shining in her lavender eyes.

"Of course he'll come home! He _lives_ here!" Storm laughed. "Humans don't belong in the Zone, just like ghosts don't belong here." he said this with a teasing smile, but everyone could see the sadness just under the surface. Storm was hurting, too. Just like Danny.

"I guess it's up to _me_ to ask the question on everyone's minds," Jack sighed after a minute. "What in the world is 'Ghost Puberty'?"

Storm smiled again, his eyes once again bright and cheerful. "Basically, it's just like puberty for humans, only it doesn't start at a certain age," he explained, pausing when he noticed Jazz writing it in her notebook. "Since ghosts _don't_ age, it activates when they... _we_ reach a certain power level. Some don't change at all, and some can change multiple times. Two examples would be Skulker and Technus." he winced at the mention of the last name, but then continued.

"Skulker has reached the power levels many times in his long afterlife, but he never changes. He only upgrades that suit of armor. Technus, on the other hand, has changed his appearance several times as his levels increase." he provided, politely pausing to give Jasmine a chance to catch up.

"And then there are ghosts like Youngblood, Danielle and myself who haven't yet reached the energy level." he finished. "Hence what I was doing in the park when Danny and I met." He glanced over at Tucker and Sam, and they realized that Storm was the one who'd set off Danny's 'Ghost Sense' during lunch a few days back.

"What were you doing?" Jazz asked out of curiosity, and Storm shrugged nonchalantly. "Crunches hanging from the monkey-bars. Just workin' out." he answered, cool and calm as if he were commenting on the weather.

"Why were you in the park?" Maddie asked. "Why not the Ghost Zone?"

Storm rolled his eyes. "'Cause Ember was driving me crazy. I think she does it on purpose."

Jazz snickered. That sounded like Ember all right. Something about this ghost seemed familiar, though. Like she'd seen him somewhere before. He didn't give her a chance to figure it out, however, as he put one foot back into the portal. "If you ever have any more questions, feel free to ask me. I'll be around." and with that, he vanished back into the Ghost Zone.

_Oh, Danny..._ Jazz thought to herself. _I miss you. Please come home soon._

* * *

Said Halfa was currently flying over Amity Park, invisible, looking for any signs of trouble. He saw a robber being pushed into the back of a prison truck by two policemen, and passed them by. _No trouble there_... he thought to himself as he flew on.

A few miles later, he saw a girl crying and pointing at a tree, where a small kitten was stuck on a high branch. He smiled softly and floated to the branch, grabbing the kitten gently and plucking it from the tree. He landed next to the girl and handed the pet to her, saying in his now-deep voice, "Here you go, kid." he smiled softly.

"Thank you, Mister Invisible-Man!" the girl giggled, looking in completely the wrong direction, her tears forgotten. Danny chuckled silently to himself and flew off, looking for more wrongs he could make right.

After a while of flying and doing various acts of invisible heroism, Danny heard a scream from the cliffs just outside of town. He gasped and shot off toward the noise, for he instinctively knew that someone there needed help.

Upon arrival, he immediately spotted the danger. A young boy, perhaps four or five years old, was clinging onto the side of the cliff over a 900-foot drop to the rapids below. Looking to the top of the cliff, he saw who had screamed. It was his fellow classmate, Star._ The boy must be her brother, cousin or nephew_, Danny guessed.

Flying below the edge of the cliff, Danny grabbed the child under the arms and turned visible, so the boy wouldn't be frightened any more than he already was. "It's okay," he reassured the boy. "I've got you. Let go, and I'll get you back to safety." The boy latched onto Phantom without hesitation, seconds before the cliffside gave way and crumbled, falling into the river. Star wailed, "No, Timmy!" but that was cut short when she spotted her brother and his rescuer.

"He's okay." Danny answered, handing the boy back to his big sister. She gasped in disbelief. "_Phantom_?! _Danny Phantom_?!"

Danny smiled shyly. "Yeah. It's me." he blushed, ashamed. "Sorry about the... 'disappearing act' for the past few weeks." he apologized, turning to fly off.

"Wait!" Star shouted, and Danny froze. "Aren't you gonna let me thank you?" she asked, and the Halfa smiled sheepishly, floating to the ground a few feet from her. She walked up to him slowly, then caught him off-guard by throwing her arms around him in a big hug.

"You saved my brother's life." she cried, so happy that she was tearing up. "Thank you. Thank you!"

Danny chuckled once, embarrassed. Then he turned intangible and flew away from the girl, not used to such affection from someone other than Sam or his family. He smiled back at her, and just before he left, she called, "Hey Phantom, I _love_ the new look! You look more like a hero than ever now!"

Danny's eyes widened in surprise as Star and her kid brother left, not expecting anyone to say _that_ ever again. The only time he could remember someone calling him a hero–well, someone he didn't know–was when he saved a school-bus full of kindergarteners and the driver.

"Uh..." was all the teen ghost could say. He didn't _feel_ very heroic, looking like this. But then he smiled at the compliment. "Thanks." Obviously, some people didn't agree with _his _view of his new form.

* * *

"Let's see..." another teenaged ghost mused as she flew over Elmerton, the town right next to Amity Park. "Yep. There it is. Fenton Works, straight ahead." she smiled as she prepared to blast off.

"Hold it right there, ghost-punk!" a familiar voice snarled, followed by the familiar whine of an ecto-weapon powering up. "Your vacation to the human world just expired."

"Valerie?" the ghost-girl asked, turning around in mid-air.

The Red Huntress nearly fell off her board in surprise. "_Danielle_? Boy, did _you_ grow up fast!" the girl laughed, removing her helmet.

Dani giggled. "Yeah, I guess I did." she answered, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Can't believe three years could go by so quickly. Guess I've been busy." she laughed nervously.

_She looks a lot like _Danny_ when she does that..._ Valerie smiled, glad to see the girl-Halfa again.

"What brings you to town, Danielle?" Valerie asked, finally stowing her ecto-gun. She had nothing to fear from _this_ Phantom.

"I was just in the neighborhood and I decided to pop in on my favorite cousin, Danny." the girl smirked, a glint of mischief in her green eyes.

"Well, who am I to stand in the way of a 'Phantom family reunion'?" Valerie grinned, winking conspiratorially at Dani. "Lead the way, kiddo!"

* * *

"Okay, Fenton Finder, time to check up on some other old 'friends'," Danny spoke, half to himself and half to his newest gadget on his wrist. "Search: Vlad Plasmius. Or Vlad Masters, whichever name you want since they're the same guy."

"Searching: Vlad Plasmius..." the computer voice stated coolly, following its statement with a beep. "Search completed. Subject currently located in Ultra-Posh Poulter Heights, Wisconsin, USA."

"_What_?!" Danny cried. "But... b-but he's supposed to be stranded in space!" Suddenly his eyes flashed green. "This time, I'll make _sure_ he _stays_ there!" he muttered to himself as he shot off toward the cheese capitol of the Midwest.

…

"Alright, Frootloop. Show yourself!" Danny growled as he phased through the ceiling of the living room. A crackling fire was burning in the hearth, and Vlad's custom-made swivel-armchair sat in front of it, its back to him.

"Come to kick a defeated, tired man when he's feeling down?" a sad voice sighed from the other side of the chair.

"Save your act, Vlad." Danny growled. "Everyone knows that you're too far gone to change your spots now."

A weak, emotionless chortle. "Very aptly put, little badger. Once again, your witty remarks never cease to amuse me." Vlad clapped, but it was lifeless and sluggish. The man stood up and slowly turned around. "But, as usual, you're sorely mistaken."

Danny gasped. "What _happened _to you?"

Vlad Masters looked a shell of his former self. His silvery-white hair was matted and unkempt, his beard was scraggly, and his eyes were dull and sunken. His robe, however, looked fine.

"Let's just say I've had a _long_ time to think about my life and reassess my priorities, Daniel. While _you've_ clearly been _very_ busy." his resigned sigh turned into a surprised statement, complete with raised eyebrow.

"Ghost Puberty." Danny shrugged. "I'm sure you've heard of it." he muttered, looking down in shame.

Vlad actually smiled. "My 'little badger' isn't so little anymore." he sniffed, feigning tears. "They grow up so fast."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Cut the theatrics. You're only wasting both our time."

Vlad sighed, turning serious again. "You're right, Daniel. This isn't the moment for levity. Although I _will_ say that I approve of your new look. It suits you quite well."

Danny just scowled, waiting for Vlad to explain himself: Why he was back on Earth. The older Halfa sighed.

"Three years alone in space has a funny way of reshuffling one's priorities, Daniel." he sighed, sitting back down in his chair next to his fat cat. "In that time, I got a good look at my life, and all the mistakes I made. I always focused on the bad when all I really had to do was let go of the past, and keep moving forward. I lost my only love, my best friend, and eventually everything else because of my bitterness." He looked down at his feet.

Danny shifted uncomfortably where he stood. He had been expecting a rousing and challenging _fight_ with his archenemy, but now the fight in him had completely vanished. For once in his life, Vlad Masters looked truly defeated and contrite. He couldn't fight him _now_, even after all he'd done. It just wouldn't be right.

"I know I can never _begin_ to atone for everything I did to you and your family, Daniel. _Danielle _included." he continued, eyes still downcast. "But I want you to know I'm truly sorry, my boy. Truly, _deeply_ sorry. I hope that someday, you'll find it in your heart to forgive a monster like me." he sighed, resting a hand on his cat's back and swiveling back to face the fire once more.

"Yeah well, I wouldn't hold your breath." Danny growled, floating off the floor and going intangible, preparing to leave the same way he came.

"Life would've been so different for me if only I'd been more careful in college, with that silly Ghost Portal prototype." Vlad muttered, unaware that Danny was still there, listening. "I should've figured Jack's overzealous eagerness and his appalling lack of attention to detail would mess something up, but the accident was as much _my_ fault as _his._ If only I could somehow get rid of my ghost half like my clever little badger did..."

"Quit calling me that." Danny grumbled, startling the former mayor. "I might know a way you can atone. Then, and only then, I _might_ think about forgiving you."

"Just name it, Daniel." Vlad pleaded. "I would do anything to redeem myself in your eyes. And the others, of course."

Danny raised an eyebrow, but then voiced his idea anyway. "Use your ghost form to undo all the terrible things you've done over the years. It'll take a _long_ time, but it's the _least_ you could do. After that, a sincere, in-person apology and confession to Danielle, my parents, and Jazz may be in order. If _they're_ still willing to forgive and forget after _that_, then I guess I will too."

"Thank you Daniel, my brilliant 'nephew'." Vlad answered, teary-eyed.

Just before the ghost-hero left, he turned and added, "And get some sleep and some food in you. You look half-dead on your feet like that." Then he flew off. The man smirked. _Ah, a witty little badger to the very end. That boy will never cease to amaze or amuse me..._

* * *

Danielle was in the middle of a little race between her and Valerie, just a fun, friendly competition between the two allies. Dani was grinning from ear to ear as she flew faster and faster, smirking tauntingly back at the Red Huntress. As she did that, she wasn't looking where she was going, and collided head-on with another ghost.

"That all you got– OOF!" she started to tease, but broke off as the wind was knocked out of her. "Jeez, pal! Watch it!" she huffed, rubbing her head, and a few feet away, the other ghost was unconsciously mirroring her.

"Jeez, kid. Watch it!" he growled, but then looked up when he heard a gasp. "_Dani_?!" he breathed incredulously, a slow smile forming on his face.

Danielle, however, was backing away. "Who... who're you?" she stuttered, frightened of the unfamiliar ghost. "And h-how do you know my n-name?"

Phantom looked hurt. "It's me, coz. Danny." He smiled sheepishly, looking apologetic. "I look a _lot_ different, I know. But so do you, kiddo."

"_D-Danny_?!" Dani breathed, not believing it for a moment, but then she recognized her 'cousin' in his green eyes and goofy-but-sweet smile. "Danny!" she cried, tackling his chest in a hug.

Valerie, meanwhile, was still dumbfounded. "_Phantom_?"

Danny, still in a bear-hug, flushed and looked down, "Hey Valerie. It's... ah... been awhile."

The ghost hunter laughed. "Guess I can't call you 'punk' anymore." she chuckled, putting her hands on her hips instead of going straight for her gun. "You've sure bulked up. Been hitting the ghost gym?" she teased.

"Nah." Danny chuckled back. "Puberty. But nice try."

Valerie's eyebrows shot up. "Whoa." she breathed, while her inner self drooled. _"Hello, Muscles..."_

"I looked for you at Fenton Works, Danny, but I couldn't find you. I asked your friends and sister, and they said you left. They all looked really sad. Why?" Danielle asked, but quietly so Valerie couldn't hear.

"Really? _All _of them?" Danny asked, getting a little teary.

"Yeah. Your Mom was even crying. They love _you_, Danny. Whether you're a ghost, man, or something in-between." she went on, and Danny looked down.

"They said almost the same thing after that fiasco with Freakshow and the Reality Gauntlet. Before I changed everything back and erased everyone's memories."

"...and you can't forget Sam. You guys were _made_ for each other. Even _Clockwork_ admitted it." Dani grinned, and Daniel looked up. "I weaseled it out of him." she smirked impishly, and Danny smiled.

"Somehow, I can totally see that happening." he teased, messing up his cousin's hair.

After a few minutes, Danielle looked down. "In all seriousness, Danny, you should go home. Your family's lost without you." she said sadly, and Danny closed his eyes.

"You're right, coz. _Home_ is where I belong," He turned to Valerie. "but first there's something I have to set right." Danny flew over to the hunter, who took a step back. She would never admit it out loud, but Phantom was really intimidating now. Especially with all those muscles.

"Val?" Danny blushed, embarrassed. "I should've done this right after it happened, but... things just kept on coming. "I'm... I'm really sorry for everything that happened with your Dad and Axion Labs. It's true that Cujo's not _my_ dog, ...well he wasn't _then_, but it was still _my_ fault. Can you ever forgive me?"

Valerie looked surprised, but then smiled, deactivating her helmet. "There's nothing to forgive, Phantom. I put that disaster behind me a long time ago, and honestly, I think I'm stronger for it. I used to be a typical, shallow, spoiled A-lister, who wouldn't look twice at a nerd like Danny Fenton. But after that doozy of a wake-up call, I realized just how great a guy Danny could be. Even though he belongs with Sam, I still like to think he sees me as a friend. _You_ allowed that to happen, and I'm thankful." she smiled.

"Really?" Danny smiled, not expecting _that_. "Wow." He looked down at his boots. "So, does that mean we're _friends_ now?"

"I don't really know about that," Valerie said, and Danny looked crestfallen. "I don't _know_ you that well yet. Let's just start with 'friendly acquaintances' and go from there." she offered her hand, a gesture of peace.

Danny smiled. "Works for me." shaking her offered hand.

* * *

Danny hovered in the skies above Fenton Works, his emotions fighting World War III in his mind. Dani put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, silently promising that she would be there for him, no matter what happened. He smiled gratefully at her, then breathed in deeply and let it out in a huff. "Here goes nothing." he sighed, then phased through the Op center on the roof.

Maddie was making some of her famous homemade fudge at the kitchen sink, Jack was watching her hungrily from the table, drooling, and Jazz was reading a book, as usual. Tucker and Sam were there too, the former working his way through a meat-lover's pizza and Sam working on a tofu hotdog. Clearly, it was lunchtime.

Danny poked his invisible head through the kitchen ceiling, watching his family going about their daily business with a sad smile. Dani poked her head through next to him and cleared her throat, and Danny was snapped back to reality and what he knew he had to do. He just didn't know how to do it.

He pulled out of the ceiling and flew outside again, losing his courage. Dani flew out beside him, looking sympathetic. "You gotta go in there eventually." she commented. "Just grit your teeth and do it."

Danny nodded, but then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed his home phone number.

…

_RING! RING! RING! _The wall phone jangled, and Maddie answered it. "Hello, Fenton Works."

"…" she could hear nothing but breathing on the other end, and the slight sound of the wind howling.

"Danny?" she breathed, hardly believing it. "Is that you?" Jack and the others crowded around the phone, trying to hear the other end of the conversation.

"Please, come home." Maddie begged, but she received no reply. She only heard heavy breathing for a few more minutes before a _click_. Danny had hung up. Mrs. Fenton put the phone back in its cradle, fresh tears running down her face.

"He'll come home when he's ready, Mads." Jack comforted. "He _knows_ that we love him. It'll just be a matter of time before he remembers that and comes right through that front door."

_DING DONG!_ The doorbell rang, and everyone ran to the family room as Jack yanked open the door, nearly pulling it off its hinges in his haste. A girl version of Danny Phantom floated there on the doorstep, holding something invisible in her right hand.

"Dani?" Sam and Tucker asked, surprised to see their friend's cousin instead of their friend himself. Dani floated in with a sheepish smile, still holding that invisible something, and muttered, "You big chicken. Just show yourself already. It's not like they're gonna shoot you."

Everyone heard a disembodied sigh, and then everyone's favorite Phantom-hero shimmered into the visible spectrum, looking very guilty.

"DANNY!" a chorus of five voices cried, tackling the teenager in a group bear hug. The Halfa looked around at his loved ones in shock, but also relief at their reaction to his return.

"You're okay. You're really okay!" Sam breathed, kissing him full on the mouth. If Danny was confused now, he didn't show it, responding to the kiss with enthusiasm. Tucker chuckled, and Jazz giggled, shaking her head. "Don't ever leave us like that again, little brother!" she scolded, but she wasn't really angry at him. She'd just missed him terribly.

"You have some explaining to do, young man." Maddie smiled fondly, looking at Danielle. "Starting with _this_ little mystery." she added, pulling Dani into the hug with her 'cousin'.

Danny laughed. "Okay, but it's gonna be a long story."

"I think we're all ready to listen. It's about time we did." Jack put in, rubbing his neck sheepishly. Then the family and friends sat down on the couch, listening intently as Danny began his tale.

* * *

Epilogue

Seven years later...

Amity Park had never been more peaceful, thanks to its duly-appointed 'protectors', Valerie, her father, the Fentons, Dani Phantom, and the savior of the Ghost Zone, who now went by _Dan_ Phantom. He'd decided years ago that _that_ future would _never_ exist, and no longer felt bad when people called him by that name.

Futuristic cars zoomed by in the sky, looking very much like vehicles in the old 'The Jetson's' TV series. The citizens of Amity Park still saw ghosts from time to time, but knew that their fair city was in good hands with Team Phantom.

Many of our old friends ended up together. Paulina Sanchez and Dash Baxter, Star and Kwan, Valerie and Tucker (don't ask), and of course, Daniel Fenton and Sam Manson. Jazz had become a Psychology professor at Yale, happily married with two children and a third on the way. Danny had fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut, and was the first ghost to officially take his first steps on the moon.

In the Ghost Zone, more familiar faces had tied the knot. PJ and Siobhan, and Box Lunch came around nearly four years after the Disasteroid incident. Johnny and Kitty got hitched, now with a blonde-haired, red-eyed bundle of joy to brighten their days.

But there were a few surprises as well. Skulker and Ember, for instance, had made it official, and Desirée and Storm would make frequent visits to the Human World, Desirée giggling like a schoolgirl and Storm blushing like a beet.

New lairs had popped up in the downtown Ghost Zone, but the most famous was the one that the Phantoms sometimes used, whenever they stayed in the Zone for extended periods. It was huge, all black and white, with some green gems tastefully thrown in. Unlike most lairs, though, their door was _always_ open to anyone.

Their closest neighbor was always friendly too, and the Phantom cousins never got tired of looking at his lightning-themed lair. "Lightning never strikes in the same place twice." he would always say, thus his lair was constantly changing.

Ten years had passed since the Disasteroid had nearly obliterated the Earth, and for Dan Phantom, his friends, and his family, the future had never looked brighter.

* * *

The End


End file.
